1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to communication networks, such as wireless communication networks, and particularly relates to the use of network coding in such networks.
2. Background
“Network coding” provides a technique for achieving maximum-flow through one or more intermediate nodes routing data from a given number of information sources to a given number of information sinks. Rather than routing independent data packets, network coding mixes data packets at one or more of the intermediate nodes by forming combinations of individual data packets, where the individual packets used to form a given network-coded packet are “constituent” packets of that network-coded packet. Much practical and theoretical work has involved network coding. See, for example, R. Ahlswede, N. Cai, S. R. Li, and R. W. Yeung, “Network information flow,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, July 2000. See also C. Fragouli, et al., “Network Coding: An Instant Primer.”